In the Past
by CleoJack
Summary: Bertolt knew he was destined to carry on the role as the Colossal titan, however he never understood the consequences that came with it. Optimism soon turned to doubt, while ambition faded into insecurity. He only hoped he and his friend's sacrifices were worth it in the end.
**Rating: T**

 **Genre: Hurt/Conflict/Drama/ Humor**

 **Character(s): (Young)B** **ertholdt, Reiner, Annie, Marcel**

 **Summary:** Bertolt knew he was destined to carry on the role as the Colossal titan, however he never understood the consequences that came with it. Optimism soon turned to doubt, while ambition faded into insecurity. He only hoped he and his friend's sacrifices were worth it in the end.

 **A/N:** Heads up, there will be spoilers! Along with funny little snippets of Berholdt's and Reiner's childhood.

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"Mom, could you read the story again?" A frail voice asked.

It belonged to a small boy snuggled in the blankets of his bed. Outside rain pounded against the glass of the window. The darkness illuminated outside, leaving for the room to be dimly lit by a single candle. The flame flickered ever so slightly in the cold room.

"Bertholdt, this is the sixth time tonight." The mother smiled warmly at her son.

At this response the four year old looked disappointed. His faded green eyes staring down the woman pleadingly .

"Just one more time, please? I promise!" Bertholdt begged, tightening his grip on the thin book.

She thought for a moment before chuckling at her conclusion. "Fine, you've twisted my arm." Gently she took the book, reopening it to the first page. "Remember after this, its off to bed, okay?"

The dark haired boy nodded eagerly.

"Alright, lets see..." She hummed. "Once upon a time were two races. Humans and us. While we tried to live peacefully, the humans always fought among themselves constantly." The page was turned. "In other words they did not get along well at all." She emphasized, before moving on. " We tried to "help" the humans, but those evil beings attacked the us every time we interfered."

Bertholdt frowned at this. Even if he had heard the story thousands of time, this part puzzled him. " Mom? Why were the humans so mean?"

The mother's eyes shifted to her confused son. "Well you see... The humans were just really bad people that didn't want to get along with anybody." She responded with the the watered down truth. " So then we then instead of one by one, decided to unite to talk to the humans." She continued. "However soon came along the titans."

Young Bertholdt brought the blanket closer over his face.

"They were big, mean, and very rude! " A crackle of thunder sounded outside. "They destroyed our homes, our crops, everything! And didn't even say sorry. But that wasn't the worst of it."

" What was the worse?" The young boy gasped. No matter how many times she read the story, each time was different. The way she read the words and made the suspenseful pauses altered the tale somehow.

The mother again could not resist smiling. "The worse was that the humans built three huge walls, leaving us to fend of from those no good bullies. And they kept all the land to themselves, not even batting an eye in our direction."

Bertholdt frowned."Why didn't the humans want to share?"

The mother once again looked up from the book to her curious son. " They were just very selfish people, that's all." Clearing her throat, she attempted to find where she had left off. " Sure we were sad, but we never let go of hope. For we had a power that the humans only wished they had, and with that we'd take back what was ours." Letting the words soak in, she closed the book instead of giving a traditional "the end".

Seeing his mother rise up from the wooden chair that sat at the side of his bed, Bertholdt stopped her with a question. "Mom, are we safe from the titans?" The mother was met with his innocent olive green orbs.

"Of course we are." _The lie was barely able to role off her tongue."_ Now get some rest, you have a big day tomorow, remember? I hear the Brauns are bringing their little boy along too." She kissed the top of his forehead before blowing out the candle. "Sweet dreams." The door closing resounded through the room.

 _Son?_

All day his mother had never mentioned they'd be having visitors the next day. In fact she hadn't said a thing till now. _"I hear the Brauns are bringing their little boy along too."_

Those words echoed through his mind.

He'd never been around other children, and he purposely made sure of it. While all the other boys played outside, getting dirty in the grass and mud, Bertholdt remained at home. He wanted to keep it that way, however seeing of what would be happening the next day, avoidance was impossible.

Bertholdt sunk deeper into his pillow.

Hopefully the boy would be nice.

With that final thought, he felt his eyelids shut as he drifted off into sleep.

 **0000000000000000000000000**

"Emma, you can not continue to baby him like this forever." The mother was greeted by the voice as soon as she shut the door to her child's room.

"I know... I just wanted to enjoy it while it lasts." Emma allowed her eyes to briefly look at children's book in her hand. She didn't want to meet the disapproving stare of her husband,

The man who had spoken, crossed his arms. "This world is changing fast whether you like it or not. Soon he's gonna have to grow up." He didn't even attempt to hide the bitterness in his tone. "The sooner you accept that, the easier you'll make it for him." For a moment he paused."Right now is not the time to start going soft. All the others have already began their training, yet here you are still tucking him in at night and table feeding him just about every darn thing."

Emma still refused to look him in the eye. "They're still so young. Couldn't they just wait some years longer? After all they are just children. Why must they be dragged into this?"

"You know as well as I do we have no other option." The woman could of sworn she heard a hint of sorrow in the male's tone. "If you continue with him like this, he won't last long out there."

"Dirk. If you could just let me have a little more time with him, I could-"

"No. From here on out I'll be taking things over his training." He cut her short, beginning to get impatient with her stubbornness. "And thats final." For a moment there was silence. "We're raising a warrior, not a child." Dirk began. " You knew that from the moment he was born. Accept it and move on." Again his voice was without pity."Now I'm going to bed, I expect not here any more of this crap tomorrow, are we clear?"

Emma knew that her continuing the argument would be pointless, bowing her head she mumbled a yes.

Satisfied, the man pushed past her to walk down towards the end of the hall. Supposedly that was where the bedroom was.

 _She couldn't understand._

Emma soon found herself down stairs. Her eyes began to for the first observe this wooden structure she called home. The house was old, for it creaked and moaned at each lashing from the winds outside. There were two stories, along with two bedrooms. For most part each room was bare.

Dirk said there would be no need with the coming years.

Or the coming of change to be more precise.

But she wasn't ready for this change. Selfishly she wanted things to stay the same, if only that meant her precious son wouldn't have to be ripped away from her so soon.

Call it mother's intuition, but she knew for fact that Bertholdt couldn't possibly grow up to be a fighter. He was simply too sweet, too frail for this cruel world.

Dirk said he would have to.

Their leader's said he would have to.

 _"For the sake of the village."_ They'd say.

Emma despised them for it. Though they did have a worthy cause, why must the children be dragged into it? Why when she was young, had to be pulled into it? Why?

They were the first born, that was the reason.

First born belonged to the leaders, while any child after that was one's for the keeping.

 _"It wasn't fair."_

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, however she viscously fought them off with a swipe of her hand. " _Warriors did not cry."_

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 ** _A/N: Alright this was a short chapter, though for the next one I'll be shooting for 3,400 words. Please do review and fave! I need to know if any of you actually like this story._**


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